Drawing and swaging die apparatus



April 14, 1970 OMALLEY ET AL 3,505,719

DRAWING AND SWAG ING DIE APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 1April 14, 1970 L. OMALLEY ET L 3,505,719

DRAWING AND SWAGING DIE APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 2FIG.3

April 14, 1970 L. OMALLEY ETAL 3,505,719

DRAWING AND SWAGING DIE APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIGS FIGS

April 14, 1970 L. O'MALLEY ET AL 3,505,719

DRAWING AND SWAGING DIE APPARATUS Filed Nov. 14, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4United States Patent 3,505,719 DRAWING AND SWAGING DIE APPARATUSLaurence OMalley, 61 Jacobson Ave., Kyeemagh; John Cowdroy, 15 OldSydney Road, Seaforth; and Richard Vanzanten, Murralon Place, Lane Cove,all of New South Wales, Australia Filed Nov. 14, 1966, Ser. No. 534,216Claims priority, application Australia, Nov. 15, 1965,

,524/ 65 Int. Cl. B21d 5/08 U.S. Cl. 29-200 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A die for making extended lengths of composite metal sectionswith a passage having an entry end and an exit end. The entry end isadapted to receive an inner metal section and sheet metal to cover witha close fit part or all of the inner section. Means are provided forcovering the sheet metal with a close fit part or all of the innersection as the section and the sheet metal are drawn through the die.The entry end is approximately similar in shape but larger in size thanthe composite section and the passage near the exit end is substantiallyidentical in size and shape with the composite section. The coveringmeans includes a pluarity of rollers rotatably mounted on and within thedie, each adapted to engage an adjacent part of the sheet metal andswage it against an adjacent part of the metal section wih a close fit.The drawing and swaging die apparatus has lubricating rollers andelongated tapered drawing die halves fastened together having paralleltapered swaging rollers for swaging edges of stainless steel strips toan angle of 45 about edges of an aluminum extrusion, and parallelcylindrical rollers to force the bent edges hard against walls of achannel in the aluminum extrusion. The drawing die passage tapersslightly toward the exit end thereby forcing the stainless steel stripshard against the surface of the aluminum extrusion.

This invention relates to the production of extended lengths ofcomposite metal sections, for example, aluminum extrusions, coveredexternally by closely fitting sheet metal, for example, stainless steel.

It is already known to make articles such as shop counter edges,stairway hand rails and the like comprising a timber core partlysurrounded by a close fitting metal skin.

The normal procedure for making such a composite structure is to placethe core initially on unfolded sheet metal cut to the required size. Arelatively thin die plate is formed with a passage through itcorresponding in size and shape to the finished composite product. Theend of the timber so that, in the finished article, the skin fitscorresponding end of the sheet metal is cut away roughly and foldedroughly by hand tools so as to loosely clasp the cut away end of thetimber.

The. reduced end of the rough composite article is then pushed throughthe die opening and attached to a conventional traction device. Theworkpiece is then drawn steadily through the opening. The sheet metalskin clasps the timber closely and the free edges of the metal bite intothe timber so hat, in the finished article, the skin fits tightly aroundthe timber and the long edges of the skin secure the metal to thetimber.

Faced with the problem of making somewhat similar composite articles inwhich the core material was metal instead of timber, it was found thatthe dies used for making the composite article of metal and timber werenot suitable. The die for the present invention has been designed toovercome this problem.

3,505,719 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 An object of the invention is to userollers to assist to form the outer skin to the profile of the metalcore and the present application is concerned with a form of theinvention using such rollers as well as nibs with the simpler basicform.

A further object is a die for making extended lengths of composite metalsections, the die having a passage therethrough with an entry end and anexit end, the entry end being adapted to receive an inner metal sectionand sheet metal to cover with a close fit part or all of the innersection and means for covering with the sheet metal and with a close fitpart or all of the inner section as the sec tion and the sheet metal aredrawn through the die.

Several practical embodiments of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the swaging and drawing die being usedto secure a metal sheet to two sides of a typical metal extrudedsection;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the lower half only of the die;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation in section on the line 3-3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURES 4 to 10 inclusive illustrate a variety of typical extruded metalsections to which sheet metal covers have been applied, by rollerequipped dies, shaped to suit each section;

FIGURE 11 is a front elevation of the outlet face of a basic form of thedie which does not need rollers, showing a sheet metal cover beingapplied to a simple extrusion; and

FIGURE 12 is a plan view in section on the line 12-12 in FIGURE 11; themetal extrusion etc., not being shown in this view.

In the typical example of the practice of the invention illustrated, anextruded aluminum section 4 is to be covered on both sides 5 and 6 bysheaths of stainless steel sheeting 7 and 8.

The die 9 used to perform this function comprises an upper and a lowermetal block 10 and 11 respectively secured together by bolts 12. Thecontiguous faces of the blocks 10 and 11 are hollowed out as at 13 and14 to form a drawing passage 15.

The aluminum section 4 is passed through the passage 15 and a drawingcable 16 (see FIGURE 1) is attached to its free end by a suitablesecuring device 17 of known form. Two sheets of stainless steel 7 and 8are fed past a lubricating roller 18 and into the flared entrance 19 ofthe passage 15. The flared sides 20 of the die passage 15 causes themarginal edges 21 of the sheets 7 and 8 to be folded about the marginaledges 22 of the aluminum extrusion 4.

In order to fold the stainless steel into the side openings 23 of thealuminum extrusion 4, tapered swaging rollers 24 are rotatably mountedon pins 25 secured to the die blocks 10 and 11. The action of therollers 24 is to swage the stainless steel sheets 7 and 8 to an angle of45 about the aluminum extrusion edges 22.

Further along the die, sets of parallel swaging rollers 26 force thestainless steel sheets 7 and 8 hard against the walls of channel 23 inthe aluminum extrusion 4 as shown in FIGURE 3. The walls 27 of the diepassage 15, between the rollers 26 and the exit end 28 of said passage,taper slightly toward the said passage exit 28. The drawing action ofthis passage section 27 forces the stainless steel sheets 7 and 8 hardagainst the surface. of the aluminum extrusion 4.

It will be seen that only those aluminum sections having side openingssimilar to those shown at 23 can be sheathed with sheet metal accordingto the method revealed by this invention. This is because of therelative incompressibility of a metal extrusion which prevents theconditions from occurring which would enable a metal sheath to claspitself about said extrusion.

It would however be possible to cover a rectangular or square sectionprovided a small longitudinal lip, or alternatively, a groove wasprovided at a convenient point about its periphery into which, or aboutwhich, the stainless steel could be swaged.

The above specific description relates to the production of a compositesection as in FIGURE 3.

As shown in FIGURES 4 to other sections 4A can be produced usingditferent numbers of rollers which may be disposed in differentpositions according to the various composite section 4A to be produced.Sheaths of stainless steel sheet 7A can be applied to the sections 4A asshown in the drawings.

A basic form of the die without rollers is shown in FIG- URES 11 and 12.The die 29 is of suitable steel and includes a lower block 30approximately 2" square and 1" thick. A U-shaped recess 31 is cut intothe top of the block 30 between its sides 32 and this recess 31 issubsequently closed across the top of the block 30 by a second block 33which is detachably secured to the first block 30 by screws 34 passingthrough the second block 33 into screwed holes in the first block 30.The shape and size of the recess 31 on the outlet side 35 of thecomposite block corresponds to that of the completed article. On theinlet side 36 the recess 31 is similarly shaped, but is made somewhatlarger than the finished article to permit the entry of the shaped basicsection 37 and the partially shaped outer skin 38. The dimensions of therecess 31 transverse to the direction of movement of the workpiece 37are gradually reduced from the inlet side 36 to the outlet side 35. Theinlet side 36 may be rounded as at 39 to facilitate entry of theworkpiece 37 and the metal skin 38.

As the two components 37 and 38 of the composite product are drawnthrough the die 29 they may be suitably lubricated. In some caseslubrication is essential.

We claim:

1. A die for making extended lengths of composite metal sectionscomprising a passage through said die having an entry end and an exitend, said entry end being adapted to receive an inner metal section andsheet metal to cover with a close fit part of said inner section, meansfor covering said sheet metal with a close fit part of said innersection as the section and the sheet metal are drawn through the die,said entry end being approximately similar in shape but larger in sizethan the composite section, said passage near said exit end beingsubstantially identical in size and shape with the composite section andsaid covering means including a plurality of rollers rotatably mountedon and within said die, each adapted to engage an adjacent part of saidsheet metal and swage it against an adjacent part of said metal sectionwith a close fit.

2. A die as in claim 1 wherein said covering means also includes apassage portion gradually reducing in size for some distance inwardsfrom said entry end to a size not less than that of said compositesection.

3. Drawing and swaging die apparatus comprising lubricating rollers andelongated tapered drawing die halves fastened together having paralleltapered swaging rollers for swaging edges of stainless steel strips toan angle of about edges of an aluminum extrusion, and parallelcylindrical rollers to force the bent edges hard against walls of achannel in the aluminum extrusion, and a drawing die passage taperingslightly toward the passage exit, thereby forcing the stainless steelstrips hard against the surface of the aluminum extrusion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 910,814 1/1909 Hellmich 29202.5 X2,031,567 2/1936 Liedle 29202.5 X 2,749,961 6/1956 Czarnik 29-3352,948,324 8/1960 Penrose 72-178 3,004,324 10/ 1961 Macomber 29- 13,060,991 10/1962 Chausson.

3,332,138 7/1967 Garner.

THOMAS H. 'EAGER, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 29-208; 72178

